Just Counting
by his last walk
Summary: "He hugged you for more than three seconds." AkuRoku! Collection of little stories.
1. Counting Seconds

**Disclaimer:** Kingdom Hearts, Roxas, and Sora do not belong to me. ...FINE. TAKE AXEL TOO. GOD.

**A/N:** Short little drabble. Don't know what exactly it was for. It just came into my head one day. Today. The end. Enjoy ~  
**Surprise Giftfic for Sinful Zee.**

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**Counting Seconds**

"He hugged you for more than three seconds last night."

Roxas stared at his brother, Sora, as if he had just said, 'Go to the window and flash your neighbors'. He didn't say anything for a while, seeing as he didn't know what the _hell _he could respond with _that _statement. He opened his mouth, "You are counting the seconds of my hugs with Axel…why?"

Sora shrugged, dragging his feet along the sand as he sat on the swing, "If he hugs you for more than three seconds, it means something."

"What kind of rule is that?" Roxas said skeptically, "Sounds like a rule _you _made up yourself."

Sora turned red, "I _did _make it up. But it sounds _logical_."

"Key word: _**sounds**__,_" Roxas rolled his eyes, "We're just friends, I think. Counting the seconds of hugs does not mean anything. I don't get it."

"Well, if he hugs you for maybe one second or two, then it's okay, because it means you're just friends, like this," Sora got up from the swing and embraced his brother for a brief moment, "There, see? That was friendly. But if it was like this…" He took Roxas into his arms again and hugged him tightly. Roxas stood there, immobile, but he was aware of how close his brother's beating heart was near his chest. After what seemed like minutes, Roxas suddenly felt uncomfortable.

"Um…Sora?"

"SEE?" Sora sprung apart, "That's too long. And that was only for like, seven seconds! Seven seconds of hugging is like seven seconds of cuddling time!"

"Noooo," Roxas protested, "That was almost 30 seconds, I swear!"

Sora shook his head, "Nope. Seven. I timed it," He showed his watch to Roxas and indeed, the digits did say seven seconds. Roxas scowled,

"I _still _don't think it means any—"

"Hey, Roxas."

The two boys turned around to see a familiar face under all the spikes of red, crimson hair. Green eyes met the two pairs of blue, and they twinkled in amusement as Axel cocked his head to the side, "What are you two talking about?"

"Nothing," Roxas said a little too quickly.

Axel stuck out his tongue, "Oh, reaaally? Why's your face all red then?"

Immediately, Roxas's hand flew up to his cheeks and he felt the warmth from the blood in his face. The fact that Axel had mentioned it probably turned his cheeks even more pink. Axel smirked, but Roxas's glare kept him silent. "Why are you even here?"

Axel shrugged, half-glancing in the direction of the street ahead of them, "Mom sent me out to go grocery shopping. But I saw you two and I thought I'd say hi. What's the time, Sora?"

"8:13."

Axel let out a low whistle, "Aaand I'm running late. I'll catch up with you two later, 'kay?"

Roxas nodded quietly, "Kay."

For a moment, the three of them didn't move. Then Axel spread his arms. Sora took the hint and went in for the hug. For some reason, the earlier conversation had now made Roxas want to count the seconds. And so he started counting:

_1…2…_

"Aren't you gonna give me a hug, Roxy?" Axel grinned, letting go of Sora. Roxas stared, mouth drawn in a tight line. Sora wiggled his eyebrows behind Axel,

"Come on, brother. Time's ticking," He pointed at the watch.

Roxas turned red as he walked up towards Axel, arms held out as well. Axel pulled him into a warm, tight embrace, and as Roxas breathed in the comforting scent of cappuccino on Axel's sweater, he automatically started counting in his head.

_1…2…3…4…5…_

Roxas blushed.

_...6…7…8…9…10…_

_Anytime now…_

…_11…12…13…_

"Roxas?"

The blond gasped as he realized that _he _was the one holding onto Axel's waist. As he pried himself apart, he noticed that Axel's face was slightly flushed. The redhead hid a small smile behind his hand, "Alright, I'll…see you later…?"

"See you later," Roxas replied, turning his face away. He heard the slight crunch of autumn leaves as Axel walked away. As he glanced back up, he noticed that the redhead had looked back once, waving with a smile to Roxas, before taking up a slightly quicker pace. Roxas couldn't help but grin.

Then he gave Sora a death stare.

"What?" His brother asked innocently.

"This is all your fault."

"How so?"

Roxas sat back on his swing, toeing at the sand near his shoes, "You're gonna make me count the seconds of Axel's hugs for the rest of my life." There was a long pause, then a blush crept up into Roxas's face.

"What's it mean if it's for twenty seconds?"

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**Notes: **There you go. :D Hope you liked it. **_Reviews _make the world go round.  
**Watch me count the seconds of my next hug with someone. ;~; Blarghh.


	2. Counting Minutes

**Disclaimer: **Well, you already know Kingdom Hearts doesn't belong to me. ;-; No need to rub it in my face.

Another random one-shot. Kinda. This one is dedicated to **Sexy-Tacos-Emo-Waffles**, for her awesomeness. It's out of random, so...yeah, thanks. *lots o' hearts.

**

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Counting Minutes**

"Um…Roxas, what are you doing?"

Roxas shook his head, his eyes focused on the digital clock in front of him. **11:09.** He didn't know exactly what he was waiting for. He was just watching the minutes pass by. The seconds were going so slowly that it was almost agonizingly painful to count. Sora poked his brother again as he sidled next to Roxas on their couch,

"Roxas, you're spacing out on me. Are you depressed? Did something happen between you and Axel?"

Roxas turned to Sora, deciding that he had time to talk to him. "No, I'm not depressed. Nothing's happened between me and Axel," He wondered why Sora would think that. Ever since that…particularly long **hug** the other day, Axel had been talking to Roxas more and more. If anything, Roxas should be ecstatic. "I'm just…" He shrugged, not sure how to explain it. He was just _waiting_ for the _**exact**_ moment. His gaze returned to the clock in front of him.

**11:10**

Sora threw Roxas a worried glance, "If you say so."

Roxas nodded blankly, "Okay, Sora, I'll make lunch in a second."

"I didn't even say that," Sora pulled an exasperated face; "I think you've finally lost it, Roxy. Axel's finally gotten to you." Roxas didn't even answer, and Sora sighed, turning his head to see what exactly Roxas was staring at. The digital clock's numbers were green, and they still read 11:10. The brunet had no idea what his brother was waiting for. "Are you sick, Roxas?" He pressed the back of his hand against Roxas's forehead.

Roxas didn't even notice, his eyes transfixed on the clock.

**11:11**

Sora noticed how his brother was tensing beside him on the couch, and he returned his attention back to Roxas. The blond's eyes were squeezed shut, his hands balled into fists on his lap and his lips barely parted, as if he were whispering a silent prayer. Sora arched a confused eyebrow, clearly having no idea what was going on. Tentatively, he waved his hand in front of Roxas's face, but he got no reaction.

He concluded that he was going to have wait this one out. He was slightly perturbed by Roxas's actions, but he knew he wasn't going to get anything out of his brother right _now_.

Right at **11:12**, the doorbell rang and Roxas's eyes snapped open, his face splitting into a wide smile. It was like Christmas had come early and Roxas had gotten the puppy that he had always wanted. Sora glanced at the window. _A puppy named Axel…_ he thought as Roxas jumped to his feet,

"My wish came true, Sora!" He yelped as he darted towards the door. As he opened the door, he launched himself at the tall redhead, who seemed mildly surprised yet pleased at the same time,

"Excited to see me?" Axel grinned. He kept Roxas in a tight embrace (which had probably lasted more than three seconds), and he sent Sora a questioning look. The brunet shrugged, a sneaky grin slowly pulling at his lips.

He decided not to tell Roxas that _he _had been the one calling Axel to come to their house earlier that day.

_fin._

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**In a bad mood, **but I wrote the fluffy fanfic anyway. Kinda surprising. Anyway, hope you enjoyed reading it. I'm not sure why I added another chapter, but I was like, hey, I wanna dedicate this to **Sexy** for being sexy. LOL. Yep. So, _**reviews **_would be nice, but they're not needed. I'm feeling rather blah today. **Byebye. :3**


	3. Counting Candy

**Disclaimer: **Kingdom Hearts doesn't belong to me. D: *CRIES*

**A.N:: **Yeah, so since I cannot stop thinking about counting things now, I decided to continue the drabbles. I mean, why not? A few people want me to anyway. :D I hope I'm not killing this by doing this.  
**HAPPY HALLOWEEN, FANFICTION! **  
-throws candy and pumpkin seeds all around-

**For Rabu Love. *glomps**

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**Counting Candy**

"Is this one of your weird theories again, Sora?"

Sora beamed at his fair-headed brother, "Well, it makes sense, Roxas, doesn't it? If the house you go to gives you like…one candy, then you're just like any other kid. But if the house gives you a whole lot, then they either really like you or…your costume's spectacular—"

"Does this mean I have to count _all _my candies?" It didn't make any sense, "Maybe they'll give me one piece of candy because they're running out, "Roxas added, but the brunet waved that away.

"Either way, Riku better give me a whole bucketful or I'm gonna think something's wrong. He knows how much we love candy."

Roxas laughed, "Greed's a vice, you know," Roxas danced out of the way just as Sora slammed his locker shut and swiped his hand at him. Roxas had only jumped back once more only to fall against someone's hard chest, "Oof," He turned around hastily to apologize, but the word was lost as his eyes widened, "Hi, Axel!"

The tall redhead grinned down at the blond, "Watch it, princess," Axel laughed at Roxas's horrified expression, "Oh, yes. I still remember your cute little dress costume from last year."

"Axeeel~!" Roxas protested, "You're not supposed to bring that up…and in any case, you and Riku dared me to!" His words were drowned out by Axel's chuckles. Roxas jutted his bottom lip, pulling his 'puppy-dog' look on Axel, "Are you going trick or treating tomorrow?"

To Roxas's major disappointment, Axel shook his head, "No. That's for little kids. I decided to stop this year," Not noticing Roxas's fallen face, he asked eagerly, "Me and my friends are gonna watch a horror movie tomorrow night though. D'you wanna come?"

Sora slung his arm over Roxas's shoulders, "Can't. He wants to go trick or treating with me."

Axel looked surprised, "Why?"

"…I like candy," Roxas said in a small voice; his displeasure was evident. Axel bit down on his lips, running a nervous hand through his red and maroon spikes,

"Oh," He managed to say, and it was followed by another uncomfortable silence, "Have…fun then," He started stepping backwards to leave, and Roxas did a little wave,

"Bye."

As Axel sauntered out of sight, Sora reassured Roxas, "Don't be sad, Roxy. There's always Christmas and…anyway, he doesn't know what he's missing out on. You'll have loads of fun tomorrow. Trust me. Though, I'm just saying, if you wanted him to come, you should have told him that you're wearing a dress _again _this Halloween."

- - - - -

Night fell the next day, and Sora had been right; Roxas _was _having a fun time, other than the fact that his costume was causing him to itch like crazy. Sora had been the one to plan their costumes, and Roxas was appalled when he realized his brother was making them cross-dress. Roxas was to be Cinderella, and Sora was to be his 'fairy godmother'. The idea wasn't appealing at the time, but as they went around, they had gotten many compliments…and a whole lot of candy.

So far, Sora had gotten the most candy from the first house: Riku's. It was _just _before the silver-haired male was going to Axel's, and he had personally answered the door to give Sora a quarter of the bowl of candy. Sora couldn't stop smiling.

Roxas wasn't doing too badly either; his bag was slowly but surely getting heavier and heavier. His shoulders were screaming with protest as he hauled the candy-filled garbage bag along. It was getting late too, and it was near pitch black, except for the dim street lights hovering above their heads. _This is Axel's street…_ Roxas couldn't help but think as they passed the street sign.

"Last house?" Sora breathed.

"Last house," Roxas agreed, though secretly, he wanted to pass by Axel's. But his house was rather far from where they were right now. They rang the doorbell twice and they were met by an elderly woman, who cooed and gushed about how 'adorable the two little girls were'. Roxas and Sora exchanged bewildered looks before thanking the lady for the candy. They started down the street,

"I'm so tired," Sora sighed, dragging his feet. Roxas nodded, grinning,

"Yeah, but it was fun," A flicker of sadness passed his eyes, "But I—"

"11:11!" Sora's sudden comment made Roxas jump. Sora nearly tripped over his own feet as he twirled around, waving his plastic wand in the air, "Close your eyes and make a wish, Cinderella! It starts counting now!"

"Sora…" Roxas was interrupted with a glare, and he sighed, complying. Squeezing his eyes shut, he couldn't think of anything to wish for. There was only one thing on his mind, and it had been the sentence he was trying to say before Sora interrupted him: _But I wish Axel were here. _He heard pattering of feet and when he peeked through one eye open, he saw that Sora had gone. His heart skipped a beat,

"Sora!" There was no answer, "Sora, if you're playing a trick on me, this isn't funny!" He started forward, but his blue dress caught onto his shoe, causing him to fall over. He landed on his hands, so he was okay, but now he was wearing a frown, "Sora…"

"Looking for that glass slipper, Cinderella?"

Roxas's entire body froze familiar voice and he almost turned around but something kept him from doing so. Strong, lean arms wrapped themselves around Roxas's torso from behind, and Roxas shivered; the boy's fingertips were cold, which meant that he had been outside for a while. Roxas narrowed his eyes suspiciously, "What—"

"Shh," He felt the boy's hot breath against his ear. "Close your eyes again."

"What are you—"

"Do it," The boy behind him managed to put on a menacing voice, "Or I'll steal all your candy."

_Oh, no, not the candy, _Roxas thought sarcastically as he obeyed; he knew who this voice belonged to, but he decided to stay silent about it. Axel was never really good at hiding his voice, and Roxas had it memorized. He stayed still, his hands clutching at the bag in front of him just in case the redhead really did decide to steal his candy. He suddenly felt some weight on the bag - that was an understatement. The bag abruptly became so heavy that he toppled forward, and the boy behind him couldn't grab onto him in time, "Ah!" Roxas cried out, and he landed face-first into the pile of candy.

He quickly blinked his eyes open, only to notice a drastic change in his candy bag, "Whoa," That was the only word he could get out of his mouth.

It was nearly filled to the top now; some of the chocolates were even falling onto the sidewalk. Roxas gaped, his jaw dropped, and he barely heard Axel and Sora's voice when his brother came back,

"Oh, god, Roxas, are you okay? I didn't mean to--"

"Wow, Axel. Aren't _you _the romantic one?"

"Shut up," Axel growled, a blush appearing on his cold, pale cheeks as he helped Roxas back up onto his feet, "I didn't know how else to make Roxas happy. Yesterday, he just seemed so…" Roxas knew Axel was going to say _sad_. It was true. He had been upset yesterday, but today he had almost forgotten about it, and now…

"I thought you said you didn't go trick or treating because it was for little kids."

Axel didn't say anything for a while, "Yeah…I still stand by that. But you said you liked candy so…yeah, I went and...you know..."

Roxas's voice cracked into a soft whisper, "For me?"

Axel reddened even more, "For you," He stayed quiet for a bit, then he added, motioning towards the candy, "All of it," As if he had not made his point clear enough.

Roxas's eyes widened at him as the redhead shrugged, stowing his hands into his pockets, "You don't have to thank me. But now I'm cold, and I'm tired from walking around. My friends were waiting for me before starting the movie so…you two wanna come over and watch _now_?"

Since Roxas was still too in shock to answer, Sora piped up, "We'd love to."

Axel snickered, "Alright," Just as he started to walk away, Roxas managed to regain his voice,

"W-wait! Shouldn't I change?"

Axel paused, and Roxas started to blush as those intense jade eyes stared at his dress. The redhead took one long look up from the top of the blond's head, and slowly scanned down, all the way to Roxas's feet. He was drinking up the whole outfit with his eyes. Then he smirked cockily, "No," And he started walking the opposite direction.

Roxas dropped his gaze down to his bag once more, still stunned by the amount of sweets inside. Sora nudged him, a cheeky grin on his lips,

"Well, aren't _you _going to have fun counting," Sora winked jokingly, "At least now we know who likes you best."

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**Woot~ Thank you, Earthly Evil **for helping out with this.  
Bahaha, cross-dressing. :3  
Kinda long...but oh well ~ TWSS. LMAO.  
So the next one I have in mind is for Christmas/Winter.  
Unless any of youz have ideas, I'm not gonna be posting until December xD  
_Hope you liiiiiked ~_  
**Reviews are greatly appreciated.**


	4. Counting Angels

**Disclaimer:** Kingdom Hearts doesn't belong to me. D:

**Summary: **This is how you get Axel to make snow angels with Roxas.

**A.N: **K, you know what? It's not snowing. It makes me sad.  
I was gonna post this on the first day it snowed, but no, it's not going to and I've delayed this long enough :  
THERE MUST BE SNOW ON CHRISTMAS. I DEMAND IT.  
K done. Enjoy~

**Dedicated to**: Earthly Evil. I promised you I would. xox

**

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Counting Angels**

The soft white snowflakes floated down onto the ground, increasing the amount of snow already there. The whiteness of the roads was already tainted with dirt and children's footprints. The only place that remained pristine and untouched, in Roxas's opinion, was Axel's backyard; it was so big that Roxas was sure that Axel could have two swimming pools there if he really wanted it.

Like, it was really _that _big.

But that was just what Roxas thought anyway. Axel had not been amused by the first snowfall. He had never liked the cold, seeing as fire was much more appealing to him. Roxas loved the snow, and everything that it brought: Christmas, snowmen, snowball fights, and even the slush that squished between his yellow boots.

Axel had opened the door to see Roxas happily munching on his last Halloween chocolate bar. They were now standing in his backyard, and Axel was shivering with cold. Roxas was jumping around cheerfully in the soft snow.

_Crunch. _Jump. _**Crunch**__. _Jump. _Crunch. _Jump. _**Cru**__—_

"What are you doing?" Axel finally asked his boyfriend, and Roxas stopped hopping like a bunny.

"The snow's up to my _knees_, Ax!"

"Well noticed," Axel murmured.

"Let's _do _something," Roxas bent down to pat a bit of snow into the palm of his mittens, throwing them up to watch the light puffs of snow swirl around him. Axel wrinkled his nose,

"I've got a fireplace inside…"

"Axel, that's so boring," Roxas twirled around on his feet and fell onto his back with a gentle 'fwump'. The snow was tougher near the middle, and he sighed, ignoring the sudden bitter cold his back was sensing, "Let's do something with the _snow_," He spread his arms wide and started fanning them out. His legs moved similarly, and Axel couldn't help but smile.

"Snow angels?"

"Let's fill your backyard with angels!" Roxas excitedly exclaimed, leaping back onto his feet; there were bits of white fluff sticking to his unruly, fair hair. The blond carefully side-stepped beside his snow angel, and lay on his back again, "C'mon, Axel. It's not fun if I do it by myself."

Axel groaned inwardly; the winter had always brought out the hyper side of Roxas. Not that Axel _minded_, since that meant that Roxas would tire faster and he would not fight back later on if Axel tried to coax him into doing things. But it was always during _this _part that wore Axel out. Hesitantly, he jumped into the space beside Roxas and slowly lowered himself down. The icy snow bit through his jacket and caused him to tremble,

"So…cold…" He hissed.

Roxas laughed, finishing his second angel, "We'll warm up later. Let's finish _this _first."

_I like that idea, _Axel thought idly, straightening up to admire his first snow angel. His hair had made the head look bigger, and it resembled a porcupine on the body of an angel. Roxas laughed aloud,

"Your angel has a mow-hawk."

Axel stared at it unenthusiastically, "I guess he does."

Roxas dipped his mittens into the snow and drew a smiley face, "You're not having fun, are you, Axel?" It would have been a lie of the redhead had said he was having the time of his life. He didn't say anything, and Roxas jumped up,

"_Okaaay_, well, whoever makes the most snow angels gets to kiss me, so…STARTING NOW GOGOGO!" He skidded towards the left of Axel's backyard, falling down and waving his arms wildly in another frantic attempt to make a snow angel. Axel gaped at him,

"What if _you_ win?"

"Then I guess you don't get to kiss me. It only applies to _you _anyway—done my third one!"

_Okay, I'm so doing this, I'm so doing this, I'm so doing this!_

Now Axel was being forced into playing Roxas's silly games. It took them a full five minutes to fill the backyard with snow angels, since they had to make sure none overlapped each other. There were a few playful pushes and Roxas even dumped a big pile of snow onto Axel's head, in which the redhead started tickling the blond for. That took another five minutes. Roxas was panting for breath, and Axel was flicking the snow out of Roxas's hair. The blond tugged nervously on his light blue scarf,

"Who won?"

Axel glimpsed over the sea of angels with hope in his eyes, "I have…twelve"

Roxas's eyes flickered from left to the middle, "two…eight…nine…eleven…oh, twelve," He breathed a puff of cold air, "I guess no one gets that kiss then."

If Roxas was expecting Axel to look disappointed, he was sorely mistaken. Axel leaned down a bit to match Roxas's height, "…No, wait. I won."

"What?"

"Yeah," Axel beamed, "I won. Thirteen."

"Where?" Roxas demanded.

"It's one of my angels."

"_Where_?" Roxas asked, exasperated. Axel took hold of Roxas's cold hands and started to point around the Winter Wonderland themed backyard. He pulled Roxas closer, still guiding Roxas's hand. He breathed against the blond's ear, making him shiver with delight,

"He's right…over…"

Those soft, warm lips brushed against Roxas's cheek and the smaller boy turned his head in curiosity. Had Roxas been given the chance to lick his dry, cold lips, he would have done so, but Axel's breathtaking kiss wiped that thought away. Roxas's hands were freezing, but he could feel himself melting like a marshmallow on a fire as Axel's lips pressed tenderly against his.

They broke apart after a few seconds, and Axel smiled, sending a flutter into Roxas's heart.

"He's right over here."

* * *

**AWWWWWWW**? ;D  
Yay for cheese/fluff. Puahaha, but at least they _FINALLY_ kissed, right? :D  
Reviews are lovely, lovelies.  
_Maybe I should think of a Christmas one now._


	5. Counting Ornaments

**Disclaimer: **Kingdom Hearts doesn't belong to me.

**His Last Walk would like you all to know: **that she wishes you all a very MERRY (EARLY) CHRISTMAS~ And even those who don't celebrate it, umm, enjoy the holidays? :D  
I might write one after Christmas or for, depending on how fast the ideas come to me.  
**If you'd like me to write something, feel free to review it in.**  
Enjoy the read ~

Dedicated to: _SoulLily_. ILY.

**

* * *

Counting Ornaments**

With the snow angels faintly still imprinted in Axel's backyard, it was nearly time for Christmas. Roxas and Sora had already decorated their houses to the extreme; even the stairs were tinseled with red and gold. The Christmas tree was already put up, and red and white stockings were hung near the chimney. No, they did not believe in Santa Claus anymore…or at least, that's what they liked to think.

Axel, on the other hand, was sitting snug in his leather chair two days before Christmas when he heard furious knocking on the door. He debated whether or not he should answer. When the knocking got more intense, he sighed wearily and got up from his seat. The moment he answered, he saw a flurry of blond hair and blue eyes, in which were wide with shock,

"WHAT THE HECK, AXEL! YOUR HOUSE IS _BARREN_!!"

"Uh…"

"NOTHING!" Roxas let go of his waist, "WHERE'S THE COLOUR?! AXEL! TWO DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS!!"

Axel tore his eyes away guiltily, "I'm too lazy to decorate…"

"I'll help you," Roxas dashed down the stairs, "Where do you keep your stuff? Still in that deep…_dark, _scaryplace…you call a basement – AXEEEL!"

As the two tackled the dark (more so Roxas than Axel), they dragged the enormous cardboard box to the living room. Roxas ordered Axel to attach the plastic tree together, and Axel mumbled a complaint of how his mother never seemed to be around to help out.

With the tree built, it was still free from ornaments. Roxas studied the box with an intent expression, fingers tapping his chin, and Axel did his best not to say 'aww' out loud.

"Blue and gold?" Roxas held the decorations up. Axel scoffed,

"Why don't we just hang _you _up then, my little angel."

Roxas ignored the jest, and Axel's face fell, "Don't you dare say—"

"Red and green it is."

"Rox-as!" Axel whined as Roxas took the little glass balls out, "There's enough red and green in the house! What are you implying?!"

"I like red and green," Roxas replied simply, hanging the first one as high as he could reach…which was near the middle. Axel's heart swelled; was that statement directed to him? As Roxas turned around to hang yet another ball, Axel's hands snaked around the blond's skinny waist. With a small gasp, Roxas twisted out of Axel's grasp, much to the elder's dismay,

"What are you _doing_?" Axel's pout was all Roxas needed to see, "_No._ No kissing. You already tricked me into kissing you _last _time—"

"It was _legit!_ I won!"

"You're not getting your mouth near me until we get this done," Roxas said sternly, jabbing his finger at Axel's chest. "And _you're_ helping. Come on, there are about thirty or so ornaments in here calling for your help," He turned around once more, swaying his hips a little.

"Roxy…you're such a little tease…" Axel slowly trudged beside Roxas, his eyes on Roxas's small waist. The blond decorated the bottom, and Axel did the top. He smirked, "You know what this reminds me of? _In bed…_"

"I don't wanna hear it," Roxas interrupted, blushing slightly. Axel shut up, and in silence, they continued. As Axel wrapped the colorless lights around the tree, Roxas plugged it in and a high pitched tune of 'Jingle Bells' started to play. Roxas held something up,

"Axel, what's this?"

The redhead glanced up once, "Mmm…mistletoe."

"…Oh," Roxas dropped his arm, but Axel didn't notice that he had quickly hid his hands behind his back. With Axel's living room now fully festooned, adorned with crimson, green, candy canes and sparkly things, all that was left was the star on top of the tree. Axel was laughing at Roxas's futile attempts to reach up,

"Don't knock over my tree now."

"I…can't…reach – oof!" Roxas fell backwards as he jumped and Axel caught him around the middle. The star Roxas was holding had sparkles, and some of them floated onto Roxas's hair. The blond grumbled, "Great… that's gonna take a while to wash out…"

Axel laughed, "You should've known you weren't gonna be able to reach," He ceased talking immediately as soon as Roxas regained his balance and placed his hands on his hips, glaring at Axel mockingly, "…what?"

"Carry me. I wanna put on the star."

"Why don't _I _just do it?"

"…Cause _I_ wanna be the one to put on the star," Roxas rolled his eyes, "And it's not like I'm gonna carry _you. _You're gonna have to get a chair, and you're too lazy to," Axel would have never admitted that Roxas was right, "Axel, I'm light, I'm easy to carry. It'll only be a few seconds. Unless you're telling me that I'm fat."

"Of course I'm not!"

"It's the last one~"

Axel jutted his bottom lip out, but said nothing to contradict his boyfriend. "Fine… No piggybacks, because if you suddenly lean too far out, I'm gonna fall into the tree too. Here," He held his arms out, and Roxas jumped up, wrapping his legs around the redhead's waist. As Axel straightened up, Roxas reached over and wavered the star over the top of the tree,

"…Still can't reach. You're not putting me high enough!"

"This is the highest I can go! What do you want me to do? Throw you up and catch you?" Axel shuffled carefully so that they were nearer to the tree, "Now can you reach it?"

"Ehh…" Roxas's hand shook as he hesitated. Then he capped the golden star on top. "Okay, done!" He glanced down, and Axel was gazing at him with a questionable look. Roxas smirked triumphantly, and Axel made a face,

"What?"

"Nothing. Just that I'm on top this time," Roxas shook his head as he laughed, and some of the sparkles fell out. Axel wrinkled his nose, blinking his eyes as a shadow crossed over them. Roxas was holding the mistletoe above them, dangling it just between the two with a charming grin. Roxas lightened his tone to an innocent one,

"Oh, look. Mistletoe~"

"What a coincidence," Axel murmured, "You're a sneaky little angel."

"I've got my ways. Weren't you demanding that kiss earlier—?"

Roxas was suddenly dropped down to match Axel's eye level and Axel pushed their lips together in a soft kiss. Dimly, the blond could sense Axel's grip on his back becoming more secure, like he was afraid of letting go, of allowing Roxas to fall out of his arms.

Roxas slid his hands around Axel's neck and broke the kiss, knocking his forehead gently against the redhead's. The smile that graced Roxas's face made the pains of decorating his entire living room worth while. Axel was suddenly grateful that he had gotten out of his chair that day and answered the door.

"Merry Christmas, Ax."

Warmth spread across Axel's chest as he pulled Roxas into another firm kiss. He beamed, "Merry Christmas to you too, Rox."

* * *

**Merry Christmas, fanfiction~**


	6. Counting the Years

**owo  
**So this fic is kinda dedicated to a couple of people.  
**Rabu Love**: who actually asked for a "Counting the Years" fic. Be inspired soon~  
**Sinful Zee: **who came up with year four to seven. LOL. Yeah, I can't think on my own during the break.

So I hope you enjoy this fic. If you can tell, I _did _rush a few parts because I'm lazy and I was writing this at 12:00 in the morning.  
**Warning:** There **might** be mistakes.  
Enjoy~

**

* * *

Counting the Years**

**Year One; First meeting**

It was at a party. Demyx had invited Axel over for his birthday party and miraculously, Demyx knew Sora as well. Sora, coincidentally, tagged Roxas along but the only problem was that they were sitting on opposite sides of the room. Demyx's eyes were blue, and so were Sora's, but something about Roxas's caught Axel's attention.

Axel decided that he liked them a lot. He also loved how that blond's hair grew wildly all over the place. The spikes that made him look like he had just gotten out of bed. Maybe they could be friends? Axel started chuckling as Demyx hung a colorful beaded necklace around Roxas's neck and forced a party hat on him. It caused the blond to scowl and Axel thought that was pretty adorable. Axel got up to introduce himself.

And some drunken idiot crashed into him, spilling his drink.

Let's just say Roxas's white shirt had been dyed with a new shade of orange.

**Year Two; Second meeting because the first didn't work out**

The first thing Roxas noticed was Axel's hair. Crimson, flame-like, just _brilliant_; he fell in love with it immediately. Then he remembered that this was the same boy that had spilt his drink on him a year ago. He had fallen in love with the same hair twice.

That night had been a bad night, but at least – what was his name again? Roxas vaguely remembered being told to memorize it, but he had bad memory.

Anyway, at least that redhead had cleaned him up afterwards. Roxas was also pretty sure that he had been staring at his body after removing his shirt to clean the stain. A year from then, he kept telling himself that it had been just a trick of the eye. Still, it wouldn't hurt to introduce himself again. This time, it'll be a proper introduction.

He tapped the crimson-haired boy on the shoulder, and the other turned around. Then looked down from his tall height. His emerald green eyes widened in surprise and Roxas smiled, "Hi again."

"Hey…Oh, hey! You're..."

"Roxas. I'm Roxas. What's yours again? I've … forgotten it."

"It's Axel. A-X-E-L. Got it memorized?"

**Year Three; First New Years Together**

"AXEL! You're gonna light the tree on fire!" Roxas tried catching the redhead as the elder waved his sparkler around in the air like a maniac. It was just the two of them in the backyard, and Sora had given Roxas a box of sparklers for fun. Axel was now having an entertaining time with them but Roxas was doing his very best to keep the backyard from catching on fire.

"Hey, Roxas, Roxas. Watch this."

Roxas kept his eyes on Axel's sparkler. The light reflected so nicely off his hair and Roxas found his eyes were being more drawn to Axel's hair than the sparkler in his hand. He immediately focused his gaze in time to see Axel spelling something into the air.

_Roxas + Axel = BFF_

"What's that?" Roxas asked as the letters disappeared into thin air.

"Roxas and Axel," the redhead smiled brightly, "Best friends forever."

"Best friends forever?"

"Forever."

**Year Four; First Slumber Party!**

"I hope you don't sleep walk," Roxas threw his fluffy white pillow at Axel's head, and the redhead ducked just in time, "And I hope you don't sleep talk either," he lay down on the pillow. They were in the basement with one single mattress (since Roxas only had one) and Axel had been given permission to sleep over.

"Yeah, whatever," Axel turned onto his side and draped the blanket over himself. Roxas frowned at his best friend, stealing the pillow back. "Go to sleep. I'm tired."

"It's only one o' clock in the morning…" Roxas thought sleepovers were technically supposed to be all-nighters. Axel stared at him through one green eye,

"I know. But we spent the whole night playing Call of Duty. My eyes are dying out on me. Night, Roxy." No sooner had he said that, he fell asleep.

Roxas rolled his eyes, slumping down onto the mattress. Axel had been sitting there previously, so now it was warm. Roxas snuggled into the pillow, facing Axel. The redhead looked peaceful when he was asleep. It was different, considering Axel was always so hyper and troublesome. Roxas closed his eyes.

Just as he was on the brink of falling asleep, he suddenly felt someone kicking him. It jerked him wide awake and he glared at Axel, but the redhead was still asleep. Roxas groaned inwardly, "Please don't tell me you're a restless sleeper, Ax—" He was cut off when Axel's arm abruptly wrapped itself around Roxas's waist. "Gah! Axel!" He hissed quietly.

But the teenager could not hear him. "A heavy sleeper too, huh?" Roxas grumbled, trying to pry the boy's arm off him, but Axel's grip was like iron. Roxas's blue eyes widened as Axel tugged him flush against him. He could tell he was blushing furiously, "Ax…el…you're crushing me! If you're awake, this isn't funny!"

Axel snored.

Roxas sighed, relaxing his grip Axel's arm. He was now being embraced into Axel's chest, their blankets tangled within their legs. And to make things worse, Axel started rubbing himself up against the blond. Roxas pouted and even though he knew Axel couldn't hear him, he mumbled wearily, "You're gonna pay for this, Axel. _Stop _rubbing against me!"

But of course, Axel didn't stop. Roxas took a deep breath, and…with lack of anything else to do, he wrapped his arms around Axel's torso, hugging him tight, "Thanks, dumb genius. You were probably planning to embarrass me like this all along."

Axel smiled in his sleep.

The next morning, Axel found a particularly cute blond clinging to his waist. It took him half an hour to get away since sleeping Roxas was so persistent in keeping his arms around him.

**Year Five; First time playing hookie**

"Axel! We're not supposed to skip class!"

Axel grasped Roxas's skinny wrist and yanked him across the hallway of their high school. Roxas glanced backwards nervously; this was going to be their first time skipping sex-ed. Not that it was an important class, but Mr. Xemnas didn't appreciate people skipping his class.

"Don't worry, Rox. No one's gonna find us! Plus, it's not like one teacher is gonna send an army to find us—"

The PA crackled. "Roxas and Axel, please report to your fourth period class."

"Oh, my god…"

"It's okay, Roxas! We're not wanted fugitives or anything. We just gotta hide…They're not gonna send teachers after us, I promise."

"Our school's crazy, Axel. It's bound to do anything."

As soon as Roxas said this, Axel halted in his steps. Xemnas had personally stepped out of his class to find them. _That's not creepy at all… _Axel thought sarcastically. Xemnas's golden eyes sought out Axel and the redhead's green eyes widened,

"Oh, no! Run!" Laughing maniacally, Axel dragged Roxas around the corner, quite aware that Xemnas was now pursuing them. "Ahh, crazy teacher~! He's nuts _and _he's gonna rape us! C'mon, Roxas, keep up!"

Roxas ran as fast as he could behind Axel; he couldn't help but grin at Axel's carefree personality. They turned another corner and Axel stopped in his tracks, skidding in the hallway. Roxas crashed face first into him but Axel caught him before he could touch the floor, "C'mon. In here."

"Janitor's closet?" Roxas asked skeptically, but the next thing he knew, he was pulled inside. It was a small space. Not only that, there were broomsticks and buckets everywhere. Roxas knocked something over but it was so dark that he couldn't see what it was. Axel's lithe body was pushed against his.

"This is comfy," Axel whispered. Roxas blushed.

"I hope you know what you're doing," he said, glad that the darkness hid the pink colouring his cheeks, "We're gonna get in so much trouble…"

"Then we can get detention…_together_," Axel grinned in the darkness and Roxas could swear he could see his white teeth glimmering.

"That was a really homo move just now, Axel." Roxas knew his best friend wasn't gay. At least, he was pretty sure. Axel let out a breathy laugh,

"Only for you, Rox," Axel shifted a little, his leg brushing against the other. "Guess we're gonna be in here for a while until Mansex—I-I mean, Xemnas leaves."

"Yeah," Roxas narrowed his eyes, pressing his ear against the door, listening intently, "I think he's gone now."

Axel's hand groped for the doorknob and Roxas tried to open it as well. Their finger's brushed and Roxas instantly leapt away, only to crash into Axel's chest. He clung to his waist to keep from falling, but Axel didn't seem to mind. He jiggled the doorknob.

"…Oops," Axel glanced apologetically at the space where he supposed Roxas was, "…I forgot it was locked from the inside."

The two of them were stuck in there for the rest of the day.

**Year Six; First awkward secret**

"I hope you brought me out here for a good reason, Axel, because I was just about to sleep when you called me out. It's one o' clock in the morning…" Roxas nodded down to his pajamas. He had just finished the countdown with his family, and then suddenly, he had gotten a text from his best friend. His eyes were literally dying out on him.

"I have something to tell you, Roxas," Axel glanced around the school yard as if checking to see if there was anyone spying on the two of them. When he made sure it was safe, he leaned down towards Roxas's ear, "You can't tell anyone. It's a secret."

Roxas stared at him. He had never seen Axel look so flustered. He supposed it was something incredibly important, since Axel chose the middle of the school field, underneath the stars and a half-moon to say this. It wasn't like Axel to be a romantic sap, but Roxas was pretty sure that wasn't the secret, "What is it?"

"You remember this place?" Axel waved his hand around. Roxas nodded,

"It's our school yard…" When Axel's face fell, Roxas elaborated the details, "The second time I saw you and I talked to you, it was here. Why?"

"Just checking to see if you remembered," Axel smiled, leaning in closer towards Roxas. The blond hoped that Axel couldn't see him blush in the darkness. "So, yeah, over here, Roxas. I need to tell you something important."

"Yeah, big secret. You said that already," Roxas leaned forward even though there was no one else around. Axel took a deep breath…

"_My parents were gonna name me Lea._"

Roxas's expression remained blank. He wouldn't show that he was disappointed, "…that's it?"

"It's embarrassing, okay? DON'T TELL ANYONE!"

"God, Axel, and I thought you were gonna tell me you liked me or something," Roxas yawned, waving his hand as he started to go back to his house. He pushed his blond hair back, "Yeah, yeah, your secret's safe with me. G'night, Ax."

Axel sheepishly raised his hand to wave, "Night, Roxy." Too bad Roxas didn't stick around to hear the rest of his secret. He kicked a small pebble out of his way as he started back to his own house. He sighed, "Now I know what my New Year's resolution is…"

**Year Seven; First kiss**

"It's just like last year," Axel lay down on the grass, hands behind his head. Roxas was lying down beside him and even though the sky was slightly cloudier than last years, they could still faintly see the dim light of the stars. Roxas smiled, nodding,

"Yeah, 'cept this time I'm not in my PJ's and _you're _not calling me out for something stupid."

"Hey, don't make fun of me," Axel shrugged, turning his gaze back towards the sky, "I just wanted to do the countdown with you. The fireworks always look nice here." As soon as he said that, green and white fireworks burst into lights in the sky. He grinned blithely, glancing at his watch, "One minute."

They watched the fireworks in silence and Axel shifted uncomfortably. Roxas noticed, and he propped himself onto his elbows, cocking his head to the side, "What's up?"

Axel swallowed, "…I need to tell you something. My New Year's resolution for this year – I know the year's almost over, but that's why I need to get it out."

Roxas felt excitement bubbling up inside him, "Yeah?"

_Deep breath…_ "It's…I hope you won't freak out or anything but, um…"

Roxas just smiled. It was rare to see Axel so nervous.

"Okay," Axel took a deep breath. He opened his mouth at the same time a firecracker in the near distance exploded, "I love you."

Roxas's eyebrow raised; he had not heard him, "What?"

Axel reddened, "It was nothing," he muttered quickly. He took another quick peek at his watch, "Oh, fifteen seconds! Come on, stand up!"

"Why do we have to countdown standing up?" Roxas groaned, resting his head back on the ground. Axel pushed himself onto his feet, but just as he did so, he tripped over an immensely huge rock that was lodged into the ground (he swore it had magically appeared), and rolled on top of Roxas. Thinking quickly, he straddled his legs over the blond's hips, effectively trapping him.

Roxas looked at the redhead incredulously and Axel grinned foolishly, "Oops."

"You say that a lot," Roxas grumbled, "Get off, I gotta stand up, remember?"

"I'm quite comfortable like this, thanks," Axel whispered. Roxas turned a slight shade of pink and turned his head to the side,

"Um…"

Feeling faintly braver, Axel lowered his head onto Roxas's, "You still wanna know what I wanted to tell you?"

Roxas didn't answer. He couldn't, not when Axel's lips were pressed onto his. Short and sweet, but Roxas felt like it took forever. Axel didn't need to say anything. Roxas _knew._ When he opened his eyes, he saw the orange fireworks behind Axel and the redhead's hair looked like it was ablaze. Only one word came clear to his head: _**Beautiful.**_

He started laughing; it sounded musical to Axel's ears. "What?"

"We missed it," Roxas closed his eyes, stifling his laughter, "We missed the countdown."

Axel couldn't help but smile as well. Planting another soft, firm kiss on Roxas's lips, he hugged his blond around the middle tightly, "Oh, well. No big deal. I got you."

Roxas breathed in Axel's scent, indulging himself in that smell he loved so much, "Yeah. No biggie," He grinned softly, "Took you seven years to do this, but this is the best thing that's happened to me this year. And what's even better is…I get to spend my first seconds of my new year with the one person I can't stop thinking about."

Axel smiled, "Me too," He kissed Roxas again, "Me too."

They didn't need to say anything else after that. They could just read it in each other's eyes.

_I love you.

* * *

_

_**Happy New Year, fanfiction~  
**_Any new year's resolutions? I got none. Maybe I'll actually start to do my physics homework from now on._  
_


	7. Counting Kisses

**AN: **To all those out there without a Valentine. :3  
And to those that do have one anyway. ;D

Btw, I thought about Counting Drunks, but I just couldn't do it. D; I fail.

_Disclaimed._

* * *

**Counting Kisses**

It was a tradition on Valentine's Day at Roxas's school. It was a simple thing, really. The last period of the school day would usually be the time teenagers would scamper about, placing chocolate kisses on the desks of the person they liked. The more chocolates they received, it meant that they had more admirers…or the one admirer just liked them a whole lot.

Axel didn't like this tradition too much. Being new to the school, he didn't know anyone really well. The only person he was really close with was Roxas. Roxas was a boy, and Axel was almost ninety-nine percent sure that the blond would not waste his chocolate kisses on a boy like _him._

"So, are you giving anyone chocolates?" Roxas asked his eccentric redheaded friend, who had his head placed moodily in his arms. Axel glanced up.

"Hmh, yeah," was all he said.

Roxas popped a candy heart with the words 'be mine' into his mouth, "Am I allowed to know who this privileged person is?"

_Privileged? _Axel thought, faintly amused. He gazed pointedly at the fluffy blond hair on top of Roxas's head. He then scrolled his eyes down to meet those deep blue orbs, almost as if to say 'it's you'. But he kept silent about that little piece of information instead, "No, it's a surprise."

"Really now?" Roxas grinned at him; a light, carefree smile, "Did you hear what Tidus is gonna do?"

"Nope."

"He's gonna send Yuna twenty candy kisses," Roxas's eyes flickered, but Axel didn't notice, "You know the record of the highest number of chocolate kisses given in a year?"

"Fifty…?" Axel tried recalling, "Wasn't that two years ago?"

Roxas nodded solemnly. "I hear someone's giving a hundred this year," he added nonchalantly. Axel raised an eyebrow, but before they could converse further, the teacher prodded them back to their desks. The Valentine madness was about to begin. Normally, the kids would have to go outside their classroom in order to see their 'Valentine'. Some even had to dash outside into the icy winter air to get to the portables. Luckily for Axel, Roxas's seat was only a few steps away.

So when the time came, all Axel had to do was swerve around frantically hyper teenagers, drop a few candy kisses onto the absent blond's desk, and head back to his own. The only thing that shocked him there was that there was a crowd of girls huddled around his small desk, each dropping one chocolate while blushing wildly. They turned to the tall redhead expectantly.

"Um, thanks," he murmured awkwardly. He roved over the teenagers there and was a little disappointed to see that Roxas wasn't there. Thanking the girls once again, he slumped down into his seat, hoping the rest of the day would pass by quickly.

Valentine's Day never worked out properly for him.

"Why so serious?"

A cheerful voice floated towards Axel's ears, and he recognized it as Roxas's. He didn't look up, and Roxas continued, "You got chocolates, I see."

"Yep," _but none from you…_

Neither of them said anything for a while, then, "Hey, Axel."

"Hm?"

"Look up."

The moment Axel even dared to glance up at his friend, a shower of chocolates rained over his head, some nestling in his bright hair while others toppled over his desk. The little pieces of candy just kept tumbling out of the bag Roxas was holding; soon, there was so many falling out that the kisses just scattered across the floor, much to everyone else's bewilderment. Axel gaped at Roxas, unable to produce any coherent syllables.

"That's ninety-nine," Roxas declared triumphantly. Recalling the earlier statement, instinctively, Axel inquired with a quirked eyebrow.

"Where's the last one?"

"Knew you were counting on it," a small peck on the cheek from Roxas sent warmth crawling up Axel's neck. When the blond started to pull away, Axel grasped onto the front of Roxas's shirt, not wanting to let him go. He couldn't think of anything to say. A simple 'thanks' couldn't be spoken, but Roxas knew what he meant. He smiled.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Axel."

Maybe this particular lover's day wasn't _so _bad, after all.

* * *

_Five Minutes to Midnight  
Four Minutes to Save the World  
Three Words; I Love You  
Two is Better Than One  
You Are My Only One._

Happy Valentine's Day, fanfiction ~


End file.
